There was only one Army now. Everyone on the planet was focused on killing the Convenant or Horde, an alien race that seemed to come into the Milky Way galaxy and wanted to kill every human on sight. We're still not sure why. We just know they hate us and are hell bent on wiping us out. Humans have scattered to the far recess of the galaxy and still the Horde finds them and kills them. The human race is almost extinct. We're a dying breed. We can't keep fighting. So they made us. Spartans. Elite soldiers trained since they could walk or talk. Given the best drugs, the best armor, and augmented so that we were faster and stronger than even the strongest man or woman. We could jump higher and shoot impossible shots. We were Spartans.

Liz was a third generation Spartan. When she was a child she had thought she was special and would help turn the war around. Now, she wasn't so sure if this was a war they could win. Humans weren't breeding as fast as they were being wiped out. Liz walked into the meeting room feeling as if she was on trial. She was the third Spartan to make it and from the way they looked at her she knew that they knew she was the newbie in the room. She easily recognized 112 from his red suit of armor. His armor a deep red it looked as if it was stained in blood. It caused many people distress when they saw him. Liz knew for a fact that armor was just paint and that the alien race didn't bleed red. 112 got off on making the humans nervous. Though he could have worn bright pink armor and the humans would still stare or shy away from him. From all Spartans. We weren't loners, because we liked to brood in silence. We were alone, because no one wanted to come up to the 7ft muscle bound guy or girl with her hand always on their gun ready to fight at a moments notice. It was like an unspoken rule to never speak to the Spartan unless spoken to first.

Liz walked right up to 112 and nodded. However, she spoke to 137. "Who else are we waiting on?"

137 barely glanced her way. Not out of disrespect to her, but he was bored and Liz could tell he was more than ready to get back into the fight where they could be useful instead of in an office. "Anyone who can make it. Though 127, 114, and 216 are MIA."

Liz heart dropped. Spartans never died in combat. It would bring down morale. Instead we were listed as MIA or Missing in Action. Sometimes we truly were and would be found. Sometimes we never were; and never would be. "Fuck."

"Yeah," 112 agreed with her. "Fuck."

"If I could," said Dr. Catherine Halsey, basically the woman who raised all of the Spartans. We trusted her more than any adult. She was honest with us. Always. "I would like to begin." There were a few grumbles about waiting a few more minutes, but when 3 pair of Spartan eyes settled on you like ice you learned to never mess with Dr. Halsey.

"We're losing this war," she began. "We will lose this war. Humanity is lost if we cannot get 3 important things. We need 2 artifacts that are in the outskirts of this galaxy and behind enemy lines." She brought up a hologram showing the various parts. "This one is basically an engine. This one is a guiding system and this." She made the third item enlarge. "Is the alien version of some sort of crystal that drives all of their technology. We will use this alien weapon to glass them. This is how they have been glassing (destroying with one shot) our planets and ships. We can copy this, but we need these 3 things."

There were a few murmurs, but no one said anything outloud. "137 and 112 I need you two to sneak behind enemy lines and get these parts off of planets that are probably crawling with the Convenant. You will be on your own with little to no ODST (human soldiers) to back you up. If you fail. We all fail."

Both soldiers saluted the Doctor who nodded back. She never saluted. She was a civilian and not a soldier, but she was honored like a General when it came to us. They left without saying a word or protest. She gave the order they would carry it out. "252," Dr. Halsey said to Liz. "This crystal is the key. We cannot do anything without the key. This key is on their home planet which we pinpoint some galaxies away. You are faster than any spartan and more accurate than any Spartan before you. We will need your stealth to go through the enemy, even hide on one of their crafts going home, and get to their planet."

Liz started to salute her, but the Doctor shook her head. She wasn't finished. "As fast, as stealthy, and as good as you are with a gun you are not the strongest and this mission will require at least 2 Spartans." Liz could hear the grumble around her. Spartans were usually sent by themselves. It was consider wasteful to have more than one spartan on the same mission. "I had hoped 117 would be here, but he may be held up on another mission."

Liz or 252 as most people knew her from the huge number of 252 painted on her left shoulder nodded. She understood the importance of this mission. If she was to fail than another would carry on in her place. Plus she could tell the High ranking officers on this board hadn't done the math. Dr. Halsey said a few galaxies away which meant this might be the last time she would see the good Dr. Or anyone else. It would take a lifetime at warped speed just to get to the alien's home planet not to mention getting back. Liz was betting that the Dr. was banking that the aliens had a faster way of getting home than the humans had ever thought possible.

"I can do this on my own. I won't fail you. We must leave now. I don't have time to wait for whoever was next in line on this mission."

Message first if interested

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

264, or Raiden, was scheduled as a back-up for one of the private missions. He wasn't the best with a weapon, but he was within the 99th percentile. Unfortunately, there were a handful who were better. They were currently in the room, being briefed for the missions by Dr. Halsey. He was by far the strongest of the Spartans.

Raiden had been "recruited" into the Spartan program at a young age. They saw potential, and it turned into his hulking form. He had to have a custom suit made for him to encase his larger frame. This also caused him to have a few tweaks that ultimately got him to where he was with his weapons proficiency. It still left him short of the best 3rd Gen Spartans. 112 was one, to be exact. As was 252. She was a legend at the range, being one of the only Spartans in history to achieve a perfect at the range. She was the only one alive to do that currently.

264 sat, inspecting his weapons. He had an oversized rail gun, as well as a SAW. He found out that he would have been the heavy infantryman from the old military system. He was also the one who would be called in if they needed strength.

264 wasn't paying full attention as the door opened, but stood up and saluted as Dr. Halsey walked out, followed by 252. "264, you're being assigned with 252 here. You will be filled in on the details when you are en-route. Please proceed to the pods for launch," she said, then turned and walked back into the conference room.

264 picked up his weapons and then made his way to his pod, following his orders. He heard a click on his comm channel, and activated it.

"Your objective is to retrieve a crystal from the alien home world. Your partner will be 252. As such, you will have no ODST, and you must ghost through the home planet until you can obtain the crystal. Your primary objective is the crystal. Secondary objectives will be sent to your HUD when you have retrieved the package," a voice said.

264 shut off his comm, then shook his head. He was happy his partner was 252. He knew that she would not fail him, or he fail her. Few knew that they had been in the same "recruitment class". 252 had passed at the top of the class. He had passed in the middle of the pack. He strapped himself into the pod, then waited for his partner to strap in as well.

Raiden was ready for this mission, but realized what it meant. The alien home world was several galaxies away. At best, it would take years for 252 and himself to reach the planet. He also knew that once they had the crystal, getting of the planet would be nigh impossible. It was a suicide mission, plain and simple.

Dr. Halsey turned and nodded. She walked out of the room and 252 followed naturally. It was in the hall that she saw Raiden. Liz smiled through her suit knowing no one could see it. As Dr. Halsey left she walked up to Raiden. "Hey, Raiden. You ready to go on a mission that could destroy the whole world if we fail?" She gave a small laugh as her way of saying hello. They weren't going to hug or slap hands. That wasn't their way. No, a little joke and on to the mission.

They made their way to the pods and from the way Raiden tilted his head slightly she knew he was getting an incoming message. A few seconds later she was getting her orders. "Raiden. We're going to touch down at a colony settlement. There's rumor of a lone alien ship sniffing around there. If we're lucky we'll figure out a way to sneak on board, kill the occupants, and figure out how to get the ship to navigate to their home world." Liz stared at Raiden's bulk. He was big even for a spartan he was big. Most spartans were around 7 feet even Liz was 6'7, but Raiden had to be much taller and wider than that.

"This is going to be fun. There's so many holes in this mission. So many ways for us to die. What can go wrong, right?" She felt pressure as they slipped into slip space. The ride was always bumpy and it stopped all speech for a moment. Than it was like hitting the brakes and she felt herself slowly being pulled back to a normal speed.

"You're on your own Spartans. Good luck out there."

The radio com in the cabin went out as well as the rest of the ship so there was no heat signature. Liz looked over at Raiden. "You have any bright ideas on how to sneak aboard an alien ship that's hell bent on blowing anything out of the sky that moves?"

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

Raiden looked at Liz and then hit the release button on his helmet. It was only accessible using his suit. The bio-feed in each finger was more precise than fingerprints. He pulled the helmet off, now that the pod had re-pressurized, and oxygen was flowing again. He shook his head and smiled.

His bald head was against regulation, yet no one faulted him for it. Raiden might have been a newbie, yet had more missions than only Liz. It showed from the tattoos trailing from the left side of his skull down his neck, and to his back. He knew the tattoo was also intimidating. Spartans were allowed the ink for certain ranks. It was a way to identify them when they were out of their armor. It was also optional, but Raiden had opted for it.

"Well, unless you count an anti-matter grenade being launched into the bay, I don't really know," he said, jokingly. It was true that the AMGs would get rid of any Horde present, but he was only carrying two dozen of them in his pouch. He didn't know when he'd get a chance to restock, and didn't want to take chances.

"The other thing we could do is let me jump the power on their shuttle, then charge in and remove them. Intel says that there are only four Covenant present on the shuttle, so that shouldn't be too hard to subdue them without taking any damage," he said. He was the strength, but also the demolitions expert, mechanic, and one of the best strategists in the 3rd generation. Unfortunately, this situation wouldn't need strategy, just the ability to stay alive.

"What do you think we should do Liz? You're team lead here. It's your call. I have unlimited rail shots, but the SAW only has 12,000 rounds," he said with a smirk. The pros of being close to 8ft tall, and almost twice as big as a normal Spartan, was that his ammo and grenade dispensers were able to carry over 3 times the normal capacity. It was why he became the demolition expert.

He pulled his helmet back on as the pod reentered the atmosphere of the planet with the alien shuttle. He also knew that once Liz told him the plan, it would be go time. From then on out, they would be solely focused on getting to the alien planet as fast as they could. The only thing they had going was that the battle was currently being kept on dead planets. This would minimize losses, as well as ensure that the three missions had the time needed to succeed.

As Raiden released his helmet Liz did the same. Sometimes it was good to talk to another face and not just the mask. Talking to the mask often made you forget you were human and not like the rumor claimed some cyborg. She liked Raiden's ink and she took in the information it provided her. He had done a lot of missions and some of them she knew were legendary. She smirked seeing that it was he on the Fall of Atlantis. She wondered which Spartan had saved basically the whole planet singlehandedly. She herself was inked, but unlike regs her hair was long down to her waist and covered the ink on her neck and back. She didn't know why she had chosen the ink there instead of in a visible spot like the others.

"I like that plan. You jump and I'll cover you from out here in case Intel isn't so reliable." Which they all knew was all too true. There could be 4 or 40. "Let me suit up and I'll have your six." She didn't want him going in alone though she knew he could handle it. Still someone had to watch his back.

Liz reattached her helmet and grabbed her weapons attaching a 50 Cal to her back, a standard M-16 to her thigh, and a pistol to her other thigh as well as few more grenades. She nodded. It was time to go. Liz opened the bay door and her helmet told her it was stable enough to go. She pushed off and went for the first rock in sight. She was jumping rock to rock when she saw the ship and what had to be 10 grunts on the ground scavenging.

"Intell. Always accurate," she said to Raiden's com alone. "I'll take these guys out here. You get on the ship. I won't start taking them out until you're on the ship so they won't close the doors and start trying to blast me on this rock." Liz turned to Raiden. "Good luck and don't let them," Liz nodded to the grunts, "... see you."

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

Raiden smiled as the door opened, hearing Liz give him the go to sap their power. He quickly waited for the door to open, then moved to the side of the shuttle with surprising agility. He was big, but he was also deceptively fast. It had made him legendary in one mission in particular. The Fall of Atlantis had resulted in him almost losing an arm, but gaining several new insignias to his ever growing trail of ink. He had been able to dodge a full on particle cannon, surprising the Horde firing, before lobbing a detpak into the nest. It had nearly destroyed the planet, but resulted in the total annihilation of Horde on the planet. It was the one time he was happy to be wounded, as it let him fully recuperate, and grow stronger.

He shook his head and got back to the mission, listening to Liz's command of staying unseen. He switched on one of his two armor modes, going ghost for approximately 30 seconds. He was able to get to the shuttle in that time, before the mode needed to be recharged. He found the engine hatch, then quickly siphoned off the power to a portable battery in his suit.

Once that was done, he quickly made it past the dead grunts, before charging the 2 Horde on the ship. With them dispatched quickly, he activated his comm link. "Come aboard. We have power, and we need to get going. This brig was supposed to get going, but they just now got the cargo they needed," Raiden said as he skimmed the logs. He knew that they would have a better chance of making it to the home world if they kept schedule.

He reengaged the power, draining the portable battery, before starting the shuttle. He checked all the systems, making sure they worked, before tossing the two carcasses off the shuttle. He checked his weapons again before waiting for Liz to board.

Liz held her breath for 2 counts and let it out for 3. She was slowing down her heart rate and speeding up her adrenaline which increased her reaction time and slowed things down. It was one of the reasons she was a weapons expert. Not in the conventional. In the sense of she seemed to fire weapons simultaneously with one hand though she was not. It was a biochemical thing she was born with and the augmentation only increase her experience.

Once she saw a hazy figure enter the doorway of the ship she counted to 3 and shot. Across the space the sound of the gun spread out in many directions, but going towards the grunt was as noiselessly as if she had a silencer on...well until the sound caught up. The first grunt fell with a splat. The others looked at him confused before another fell and another and then the sound of the first bullet caught up to them and they knew they were under fire. They started screaming and running in circles with their hands waving in the air.

Within moments they were all down and Liz was slowly drifting towards the ship from the cover of space rocks waiting for confirmation from Raiden. She switched to her auto rifle and was slowly talking to herself. Come on Raiden. Come on. I know your'e in there big guy. come on. She breathed a sigh of relief when his voice came over her com and she pushed from the rock floating straight towards the ship now.

Liz had just touched her feet on the metal floor when the door closed and they were already going through warp space. She caught up to Raiden on the bow of the ship and looked over the craft's itinerary. They had a few more thousands stops and troops to pick up and drop off and over and over until there at the bottom was return home. "We'll be found out if we keep to this schedule." Liz looked at the control panel and punched a hole straight through it. There was a a weird alarm and then something that sounded like an alien voice. The screen flickered and she instantly knew that something or someone was trying to access the vid to see the bow. She quickly jumped up and put three swift kicks into the screen rendering it useless. She didn't speak alien, but it sounded like the thing kept saying the same syllables over and over.

She looked at Raiden. "This better work." Suddenly, the interior of the ship flashed red. The ship sealed and she knew she had fucked up. They were going to remotely detonate the ship. She leaned forward causing her hand to press down on a button to hoist herself on top of the console and shoot out the screen so they can escape.. She yanked her hand back as if burned when she realized what she had done. The ship seemed to still and then flash amber. The voice said something and then paused. She pressed the button again. The voice said something and then the ship was moving on its own accord. She glanced down at the itinerary and saw everything had been canceled and they were on the way 'Home.'

"Holy shit!"

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

Raiden shook his head as he watched Liz punch through the itinerary. Why had she done that? If they were anything like Spartan ships, it would alert the fleet command. As if on cue, the ship flashed, and control was taken from him. He looked back at Liz and shook his head. "What the hell are you doing? We could have just done like we do when an objective goes wrong. Hit the call button and wait," he tried to say.

Unfortunately an alien voice came over. When Liz took the the screen out, he just shook his head and put his hands up. He figured things would get hairy quickly. The Horde was known for blowing ships if they even had a hint of something going wrong. He just waited, figuring that they would either die now, or die later. It was a suicide mission, after all.

When Liz hit a button, and the shipped stopped beeping, Raiden relaxed, exhaling audibly. He felt the ship controls change again, then set course. He looked and was surprised to see they were headed where he needed to go. He turned in his chair and looked at Liz.

"We need to be ready. They know something is up, and chances are they will be doing a bio scan as soon as we get in range. We need to figure out a way to beat the scan and make sure that they don't see Spartans on this ship. Any bright ideas?" he asked, a smile evident in his voice.

Liz looked at Raiden. "I don't speak alien do you?" She sighed. "I'm hoping that we can..." before she could fully explain she would have been thrown off her feet if her suit hadn't kicked in. This was slipspace, but it was almost as if they were traveling faster than she would have imagined. She had never seen this before ... this technology before. It was far more advance than the human race would ever hope to achieve. She looked sadly at Raiden.

"I figured we needed to damage the ship and it would take us home to be repaired otherwise we could take weeks if not months or years to figure out how to call to them without alerting them that we took over the ship. At least this way they still have doubt about what's going on." Liz sat down in the chair. She still hadn't figured out this was a suicide mission. She had every hope and belief that she would complete the mission and come back alive. She refused to fail.

"I have one idea, but it's crazy as fuck. Well two versions of one idea. Option A. We wait until we get out of slipspace and then launch ourselves into space so they when they scan the ship we aren't on board. Than we let the gravitational pull of the planet pull us into it's atmosphere and hope we don't burn up as we enter the ozone. Than we hope we don't die as we fall through space into their world. Than we hope we weren't spotted and not hurt as we try to ghost to where the crystal may be held, which we don't know where that is on the planet, and finish the mission."

Liz unhooked her helmet and held it in her lap so Raiden could see her eyes. She needed him to know that she realized the first plan was insane and if that wasn't crazy enough she had a second option.

"Plan B is to do exactly the same thing except tether ourselves to the aircraft and activate the force field. This way we're inside the shield which should protect us from burning alive and as the ship is flying home we cut ourselves loose over something safe and hopefully follow the ship. Maybe we'll get lucky and the crystal will be there. Again we're hoping we weren't spotted or killed from the fall. But if you have any idea that isn't insane like mine I'm willing to hear it."

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

Raiden shook his head and looked at Liz as she explained everything. He removed his helmet, then finally started speaking. "You're the weapons expert. Let the explosives expert talk. There is a reason our suits aren't built to handle large explosions. The heat from reentering the atmosphere would melt our suits. They can handle extremes, but the heats from reentering would be extremes of the extremes of the limits of our suits," he said.

He put his helmet on the console, then quickly glanced at the keys. He was surprised at what he found. "These keys are from human technology. So is the manifest. It appears that everything else is in a human language, except for actual transmissions. That means we should be able to disrupt the scans, and put up a hologram. That should stop them from picking up our signal," he said.

He quickly removed his gauntlets, needing more dexterity to get the complex program set up. Once he was sure that their heat signal was masked, he sat back in the chair and looked at Liz. "What are your thoughts on this mission, since the alien technology is blocking any transmissions or communications we could send or receive? I'm worried that this might be a suicide mission," he said quietly.

Liz stared at Raiden as he explained the flaws in her plan. She hadn't any better ideas. She often wondered how much more she could push her suit and after Raiden's explanation entering the atmosphere without a ship would over due it. She sighed and was racking her brain for another way. She hated to admit, but her plan was flawed and worse she didn't have a contingency plan. She had failed them.

Liz's head snapped up as Raiden pointed out something that she hadn't noticed due to the fact she hadn't looked. She watched as Raiden began tapping on the keys and after a few moments she seemed satisfy. Liz would take his word on it. He was a Spartan he wouldn't say something was complete and it wasn't without being 100% sure.

Liz sat down in the adjoining co-pilot's chair. She wanted to gather her wits; think about the next step which she hated to admit would be by the seat of her pants and on the go with no real planning. It had to be all based on instinct and situation.

"Hmm, the plan?" Liz thought for a moment. She hadn't thought the mission was a suicide until Raiden brought it up. The more she thought on it the more she realized that her mind had tried to protect her by not even coming up with the possibility that this mission was meant for her and Raiden to not come back. "But it can't be. The crystal needs to be taken back to OUR homeworld so we can finally win this war."

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

"Liz, you aren't stupid enough to think that the crystal can actually make it all the way back to our world. You've seen what the crystal does, and what it could do in our hands. The Horde would detonate their own home world before letting it fall into our hands. I wouldn't be surprised if they already have an explosive charge set in place to stop that from ever happening," Raiden said. He had heard all about them blowing up worlds when they thought technology fell into the hands of the Spartans.

Raiden sighed and then said back, happy that it wold only take a few hours before they would be on the home world. He checked his rail rifle and then screwed on a silencer, doing the same thing with his SAW. He knew stealth would be the most important factor in the mission, so set about preparing it.

He looked over at Liz. He knew she was one of the most deadly Spartans he would ever know, but couldn't help but think of how beautiful she was as well. Most Spartans seemed to become more masculine, and over the top aggressive, yet Liz had retained her feminine beauty. It was one of the reasons she was so well respected when her helmet came off. From what he heard, it was also one of the reasons she liked to leave her helmet on.

Raiden finished with his equipment, and then looked over at Liz again. "What are we going to do once we enter the atmosphere? Or when things finally hit the fan? We have at least 4 hours before we land. We need to at least figure out a way to get off the ship before things are investigated. What do you want to do?" he asked.

"No, not stupid enough, but I have faith. We cannot fail this mission. The crystal must make it back. I believe that ..." Liz hesitated as her mind quickly worked through the scenarios and she had to admit to herself that Raiden was right. "... one of us might not make it. The other has too. Raiden that person is you. As Senior Officer I have every intention of making sure you make it home with that crystal and save our people to kill these alien fucks." Liz was getting too impassioned so she turned away from him and stared at the controls.

Liz turned back to Raiden. "Stealth is our only option. They know something is wrong here with this ship they just don't know what. We need to ghost in and out. Maybe they'll never figure out we're here or maybe they'll figure out one of us are here. Either way we have the element of surprise and confusion. We will use it."

"Still, my plan hasn't change much from what Dr. Halsey has given me. We drop from the aircraft skimming over the trees before anyone could detect we're here. Yes, they'll be on alert when an empty vessel arrives with dead crew, but it shouldn't be something we couldn't handle. Besides there are 3 places this crystal could be hidden, if the Intel I was given is accurate. We'll have to scope out all 3 places or go to each one and see if it's there. It's like pulling the lottery guessing which base is housing the lottery."

Liz sighed. This mission was important and they didn't have much time. They needed to restock and get at least a little sleep. They would need to be running on full battery and a nap would be a good little recharge. "Come on. Let's find a safe room where we can hole up and get an hour or 2 of shut eye. We'll need it." Liz stood and started to make her way down the unfamiliar corridor.

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

Raiden nodded, and then found a room to settle down in. He wasn't sure how things were going to quite work out, but knew that, no matter what, someone was going to get the crystal. He just wasn't sure that they would make it out alive.

Raiden looked at Liz and then took her hand, pulling her down before clicking a button and removing her suit. He knew that it was a high possibility that he could be shot for this, but decided that he'd rather take that chance now, than have her suit failing. "Get some sleep, and I'll wake you. I'm going to make a few mods to your suit that will help us both ghost through the atmosphere, as well as protect us a little bit better from weapons and explosives the Horde will use," he said quietly, not even bothering to see what she was wearing under her suit.

Without looking back, he took her suit to a maintenance room. He stripped out of his suit, leaving himself standing in only a thin mesh suit. It was a suit he designed to amplify his assets, along with his armor. He started by reformatting the batteries in each suit, then overcharging them. He then reformatted the plasma shields, making them more about deflecting and absorbing than stopping projectiles right away. He finally just made the suits able to handle the overcharge of the batteries.

Once he was done reformatting the suits, he put his back on, then took Liz's back to her. He was quiet, in case she was sleeping, as he entered where she was napping. They had about an hour before they needed to ghost into the planet, so he was hoping she was asleep as he opened the bay door.

They had just entered a relatively small, but seemingly safe room. It had only one entrance, no windows, and no communication devices she could see. It would be easier to guard and easier to set up some sort of alarm system if anything should walk in while they were sleeping. Liz was doing a small turn double checking her observations when Raiden took her hand. Her head snapped down to look at his hand in hers and then he pressed the hidden button making her suit unwrap from her body.

Her mouth hung open and her free hand was already going to her pistol as she watched her caramel skin become more and more exposed to the air. She wore only a plain black wife beater and matching underwear. In the spartan armor there wasn't room or need for much else. Hell the wife beater was only so her nipples wouldn't chafe against the armor and a bra became uncomfortable after a few hours.

She heard his words, heard his reasoning, and if it wasn't for the fact Raiden's head was turned the other way Liz was sure she would have put two in raiden's dome. She had to force her hand still at her thigh and let Raiden take what was like her second skin to her. She felt so uncomfortable and alone as she watched him leave with her armor. It was at this moment Liz knew she trusted Raiden more than life. If she hadn't she wouldn't have let him walk off to make modifications on her armor without her knowing what he was doing. Still, she crept down the hall and stood in the doorway watching him work. The suit really added nothing to Raiden's bulk and size. He was a big man. A big, muscley man with brute strength. The kind of strength to pick a girl up, slam her against the wall, and slide deep into her.

Liz shook her head. She knew that her generation of Spartans were the first ones who did not have their sex drive killed in the augmentation process. It was so that Spartans could breed with other spartans and create more spartans. With the death of so many people it was getting harder and harder to find the right specs of people who could handle the spartan program. Still she had heard rumors that Spartans would be paired with the either the spartan the academy had picked for them or by some sort of biological makeup .. from the guy. Meaning the female spartan could be attracted to whomever, but could only get pregnant from the spartan that she was picked too. The male spartan would only be able to ... 'rise' to the occasion of the female spartan he chose to give his life too or marry or be with forever. Most Spartans just decided to not complicate their lives with love or sex. It was easier this way especially since they were rarely ever seen with another spartan or in the company of another spartan for more than a few hours. Spartans were known to not be seen for years.

Still a girl could look right?

Liz turned and walked away from the enticing figure of a armorless Raiden. She walked into the room and set her weapons down beside her. Her fingers curled around her pistol as she laid down. No sooner had her head hit the pillow than she heard the sound of Raiden's footsteps coming to the door. She waited a heartbeat and then spoke, "What exactly did you do to my armor?" She slowly turned and looked at him her hand reaching up to received her modified armor back.

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

Raiden stopped dead, hearing Liz's voice. He turned around and saw her, then saw what she was wearing. He was happy that his suit was on, because his cock suddenly sprang to life. The pleasant thing about being a Spartan this generation was that they didn't have their sex drive killed off. It wasn't always beneficial though, especially considering most Spartan males were larger than most human women could take. There wasn't much relief to be found, unless you were assigned to a partner for sex.

Raiden quickly recovered, then started explaining. "I overcharged the battery, reformatted the shields, the made sure they could handle the new, overcharged batteries. Now the shields will feed into the batteries, helping to power the suits. I also tweaked some of your calibrators. It should make ghosting on the planet a hell of a lot easier. I've done the same thing to different types of armor, and it doesn't affect anything but movement, agility, and strength. I also added a bigger ammo depot. With the overcharge, you'll not notice it though," he said. He handed her her suit, and waited for her to put it on as he went to find his weapons.

He sat down and started fiddling with them. Without warning, he pulled his SAW apart. He pulled out a tool kit and started tweaking it as well. Pretty soon he had the power output increased dramatically, as well as the accuracy and ballistics coefficients greatly increased. He reassembled it and then did the same thing to his rail rifle, and then looked at Liz, happy her armor was on. "Would you like me to beef your weapons up?" he asked, knowing they would have plenty of time for that, and to talk about their strategies as well.

Liz stepped into the foot of her suit and it automatically began covering her section by section. She wasn't paying attention to Raiden at this point as she slowly became warmer and warmer. She hadn't realized how cold she was without the suit. The suit stopped just at her breasts so that she was encased fully in the suit except where her tight shirt was exposed to the air. Liz had to adjust her breasts pressing them down slightly so the armor wouldn't her when it came together at her front.

Fully enarmored she glanced at Raiden to see him tinkering with the guns. She shook her head no at his question. "I have these calibrated just right for my use. Any changes and I'll have to practice so that the gun would be a natural part of me. I'm fine with my babies the way they are." Liz smiled to take the sting out of her no.

"We'll be hitting their atmosphere soon. If you need any sleep I suggest you do it now. I'm too hyped to get any now. I think I may have found a weak point for our entry. Someplace where we can drop in without being seen and ghost for a moment while we reach some cover."

Liz leaned back with her guns around her and leaned her head against the wall. Through her helmet it looked like she was alseep, but she was awake and aware of her surroundings. She wondered what life was like for other people. She was once approached to take on a Spartan male and have his child. She had told the doctors no without knowing the name of the Spartan they had planned to put her with. She was a soldier, but now ... knowing she was giving her life for Raiden, would she have done it? Had a child something that was a part of her living on?

There was sudden shift in the ships acceleration and Liz snapped up. "Time to do this." She walked over to the bridge and using the guidemap was able to follow their movements. "We're just past the atmosphere. We're about ... 300 ... 200... 100 feet above ground." She turned to Raiden open the hatch, because he had the brute strength to force the doors open. "We'll drop down onto a tree and the nearest base is about 200 clicks to the south. We'll search that place first for the crystal."

Liz rechecked her ammo and guns and slid them to her back and thighs. She approached the door opening and looked down. The first thick tree she jumped and the impact of the leaves and the trunk hitting her was a force she hadn't known since basic when they were forced to skydive with no parachute and their partner had to catch them in the air and bring them both safely down to the ground.

Liz slid down the tree, but at the last moment the branch she was hanging on broke halfway up from the ground. She fell flat on her back and the wind was knocked from her. She opened her eyes and saw a grunt with a pistol pointed at her helmet. At this range the needler's bullets wold penetrate her helmet's glass and into her brain. Damn, tree. She was dead before the mission had started. Liz closed her eyes. There was no way in hell she would be fast enough to not be killed.

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

Raiden heard What Liz was saying. He stood up, happy his armor was already on. He readied his weapons, making sure they were secured against the mag strips. He stood up and opened the landing hatch for her, and then waited for her to jump. He looked at her and then waited. Memories of basic came back.

Since he was so big, the Spartan trainers had designed a suit that would let him land on his feet without damage. It was also why he wore the biosuit beneath his armor. It kept him from getting injured, but also stopped him from sinking into the ground. He had tuned it when he passed basic, allowing him to jump from great heights, or at speed, and be okay.

Raiden snapped out of his thought and jumped a few seconds after Liz. He saw her hit a tree as he fell. Then a branch snapped, and she had fallen to her back. A grunt was there, his Needler pointed at her helmet. Raiden angled his descent, then turned. He knew what was about to happen, and just smiled. This was the part he enjoyed.

His feet slammed into the grunt's body. The Needler flew out of it's hands, the alien already very dead. Raiden's descent finally stopped, the alien almost fully embedded in the dirt. He reached down and roughly picked Liz up. "You're not dead yet, so quit thinking that way. We have a mission, and if I have to die so you can get there, it will happen. Quit thinking you'll give your life for me. Whoever has the best chance will be the one who goes. Just because you are commanding officer doesn't mean you get to decide who lives or dies. Now then, lets get the fuck out of here and find that crystal," he said.

He unslung his rail rifle and then set up a perimeter, while giving Liz time to compose herself. He was shaking his head, wondering why she hadn't just used her pistol. It had been right next to her hand, and the alien wouldn't have seen it. He just shook his head and made sure no aliens were around the drop site.

Liz heard Raiden's voice and she felt the adrenaline leave her body. His words washed over her, but she wasn't really listening to them. All she knew was that she should have been dead and she wasn't. He had saved her. She opened her eyes and there was no more grunt just Raiden hunched over and ready to move. She would have to deal with her 'feelings' later. She pushed herself off the ground and stared at her pistol that was on her thigh. She had felt the damn thing break in half when she landed on it. She threw the remnants into the brush and checked her other weapons. Her .50 cal on her back was fine and her automatic rifle was bearable. She took it from it's holster. Now nothing should get the drop on her.

"Come on. It's only a few clicks to the nearest base. I'll set the pace, you let me know if I'm going too fast for you big boy." Liz took off. She had already switched her comm to a frequency that only Raiden should have access to. "Oh and thanks." She didn't say more. She knew he would know she meant about the grunt and her oh-so-perfect landing. She took off going slightly ahead to scout ahead. That was all the 'girlie' he was going to get from her.

Liz suddenly held up a fist and went to the left signaling Raiden to stop. She molded into the underbrush just as a Hunter lumber by. He was massive. She waited a heartbeat and sure enough his mate came lumbering by. She learned a hard lesson that Hunters usually traveled in groups of 2. She had almost died in that mission saving some colonists when a Hunter was on scene. It had taken everything she had and everything the colonists had to kill both those hunters. Those things were nothing to mess with and she didn't want to alert anything they were on ground. She wanted nothing to know that two Spartans were on their home planet.

Liz waited longer than she should have before she signaled it was clear to move. She set the pace once more moving rapidly. They had to burn time before they were caught out at night. From past missions she learned that the convenant seemed to be paranoid at night at they sent 4x's as many things to guard around at night than during the day. She hadn't learned why and she frankly didn't care. She just knew that according to her suit and the position of the sun they didn't have much time before both suns on this world disappeared to form night.

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

Raiden quickly fell in line behind Liz. He just shook his head and chuckled lightly. He heard her saying thanks, and just brushed it aside. He didn't consider it as any big deal. He was just helping his friend and partner. He unslung his rail rifle, making sure everything was correct and ready to go. He didn't need to squeeze off a shot, only for the silencer to fail.

Raiden paid close attention to Liz, switching to her frequency. He wanted to make sure that they were on the same wavelength. Something about working with someone from his initiate class really helped put him at ease. He also knew that Liz wouldn't let him down, whether in the line of fire or any other ways.

Raiden saw Liz's hand go up, and held still, knowing she saw something. He quickly sank into the underbrush and waited. When the Hunters passed, he held his thumb up, and then started moving, taking point. He was going to show her that he could really truck through the forest. His planetary scan had shown a cave about 4 clicks from where they were that they could use to get out of the way.

They were in sight of the cave when Raiden cursed. There were two grunts outside of the cave. "Two grunts, 400 meters. We need to removed them," he said over the comm, leveling his rifle in the process. His squeezed off two shots, watching the grunts fall, the projectiles tearing through them.

He quickly made his way up to the cave, pulling out his pistol, making sure it was clear, before signalling Liz that it was all clear. He surveyed the area, easily able to see the valley below the cave. He also knew that they be able to move to any of the positions where the crystal might be from this spot. He had wanted to find a spot like this, and this was the best spot out of all the spots he had found.

Liz followed Raiden not quite sure why they had changed course and why he was suddenly taking point from her. She had seen the cave too, but that was secondary to their primary mission. She thought maybe had some intel she didn't have and since he had taken point she immediately covered his six (back) and scanned the terrain as they made their way to whatever destination they were going.

It slowly became apparent to her where they were going and she felt her heart drop. "You better not be," but she was cut off as he informed her to two grunts covering the cage and then he took care of them. He led her into the cave and then gave the all clear signal. Liz didn't even pretend to go in formation to the cave. She just stood straight up and walked to Raiden.

"Please for the love of our Humanity you did not take us 15 minutes off course to a cave when we could have used this time to get to the first base, sneak in, scan for the crystal, and get out. Yes, this is a good camp site, but now we have to wait til tomorrow to make a move. We've wasted hours when time is not on our side." Liz took off her helmet and she wanted to throw it. Instead she took a few deep breaths and turned from Raiden looking out over the valleys.

She had to admit the Convenant was smart, but also some of the most arrogant bastards she ever met. The 3 bases were just outside blast radius of eachother. She could see all 3 and as the suns slipped from view and darkness crept upon them it seemed like the whole valley was full of them. She knew her and Raiden would be hard pressed to be spotted up here. "What if someone comes looking for those two scout grunts you killed at this cave. Combine that with the grunt we killed earlier today and the Convenant has to know we're here. We can't stay here. It isn't safe. This will be the first place they come looking for those grunts and we can risk fighting all night."

Liz turned on her map of the planet. On the far outskirts about an hours run was a safe place, full of trees, brush, and other things that should conceal them from view. They'll have to sleep in shifts and hunting for food was going to be a minimum. Liz placed a red dot on her map and sent the signal to Raiden. She knew the signal was untraceable and barely detectable. "Come on. You can take point." She didn't mean for the words to come out cold. She was just disappointed they wasted a day.

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

Raiden just shook his head. "For once, listen to me," he said, his helmet off in a flash. "If we were to move out to scout a base now, they would kill us in an instant. You think that the empty shuttle wouldn't raise an alarm? We have time on our side, just not as much as either of us want. If we want to make this work, we need somewhere to launch our first scouting mission. This place has all three bases in range, and if you had bothered to look at those grunts, you would have seen that they hadn't been back to a base in over two years. They were wearing outdated equipment, as well as having no electrical signals. That should have told you they were deserters. We are far enough away from the first grunt I killed that they won't look here. If you want to move at night, you've just signed our death warrants," he said, the venom obvious in his voice.

Raiden knew what he was doing. He had done these types of things before. They showed in the tattoos he had. He wasn't the backup for this mission for nothing, and knew that he was one of the best, if not the best, strategists among the current Spartans. He had been briefed about each mission before the meeting was called, and had come up with plans for each of them, in case he was needed. He wasn't going to die just because the team lead decided that they needed to try to do a snatch and grab on the Horde's home world.

"If you want to go, that's fine. But let me explain something. You and I both know the Horde is more mobile at night. What you might not know about this world is that, in the darkness, electrical pulses are given off, thus making us very easy to spot, as well as screwing with our equipment. It would be just enough to make sure we died. So we can move if you want, work from spot to spot, be tired and make mistakes when we get to bases, or we can be smart and accomplish the mission we were assigned to do," he said, bringing himself to his full stature.

Raiden didn't back down to anyone. It was also why he had been in the doghouse before. He wasn't going to back down to Liz and watch as they both walked into a trap. "Why do you think that those grunts chose this cave for a reason? They could steal supplies from every base where the crystal might be, and yet went undetected. Stop and think, and just maybe we won't make this a suicide mission," he said, his voice taking on a cold, hard edge.

He stood ready to move, if Liz still demanded they move. He wasn't going to take point at night though. He knew his role, and knew his abilities with stealth. He wasn't going to die because she was pissed off. He could tell from the tone of her voice, as well as her posture. She was aggressive now, wanting to get this mission done. He sighed inwardly, knowing it was one of the side effects of becoming a Spartan. Aggression, among other things, was enhanced to a superhuman level. This also meant that dying in the line of battle was also elevated, even if they failed their mission.

"If we don't move out we're dead!" Liz couldn't believe they were arguing. She was in command and he was to just do what she said. "I know the empty shuttle would raise suspicions along with the dead grunts." Liz threw her hands up. Neither one was listening to the other as they stayed in eachother's faces arguing in controlled quiet voices so the aliens below couldn't hear them.

They were still arguing and Liz took a step closer her armor just bumping against Raiden when she talked and his doing the same when he spoke. Their voices were lowering as they got more heated. "I have done this for too long. I work alone. I told Dr. Halsey I didn't need backup. If we had just done what I wanted than we could have already been in one of those bases scouting for the relic and determining if we should move on."

"It's already a suicide mission." Liz's eyes went wide as she spoke the admonish she hadn't want to realize herself. She took a deep breath and turned away from Raiden walking further back into the cave. She didn't want to believe she was sent on a mission to die. She had already decided she would die for Raiden to save the world, but to know that you were sent on a mission and you were expected to die hurt. She wanted to live. Maybe have that brat and raise them to be spartans. Teach them her knowledge or just fight and see the end of this war. Hell, she was already dead and maybe that's why she was being so reckless.

"No, we'll camp here and leave at daybreak," she said solemnly. "Sleep. I'll take the first 8 hour shift. I can't sleep now if I wanted." Liz walked even further into the dark cave knowing the darkness was swallowing her up and Raiden couldn't see just how human she suddenly was. Oh, she would die for her race, but that didn't mean she wanted to die. She punched the wall and grimaced seeing the huge hole. Luckily the sound of her punch didn't leave the cave.

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

Raiden shook his head. He could tell that she was hurt with the realization that Dr. Halsey had sent her here to die. He knew that there wasn't much he could say or do, so instead just watched. He knew the darkness hid most of her, but he was still able to see her face through her visor. She had forgotten to turn it back to its mirror setting when he gave it back to her.

Raiden grimaced as he heard the punch. She was angry and that was bad. If either of the let their emotions get the better of them, they were dead. Without thinking about it he pressed the button of his suit, leaving himself exposed. He walked up to her and pressed the button on her suit. He knew she would be angry, but he walked to her and hugged her tightly.

"We aren't going to die. I promise you that. Let the anger to and let's do this mission right. No more saying or thinking we are going to die for one or the other. Lets just regroup, figure out where we are going, and get this mission done," he said.

He grinned and then stiffened. "Now pull your shit together!" He said, smilin. He wanted her to relax, and to focus. Otherwise, this would just be a huge fuck up. He sat down and leaned against the wall, waiting to see what Liz did.

Liz hated how Raiden would just do things to her. She felt the urge to punch him in the shoulder and because they were technically out of uniform and rank didn't matter she did. She punched him hard. And it felt like she punched rock. But this rock didn't crumble like the cave. She felt his arms around her encasing her like steel and she found herself punching him again and again until she was exhausted and realized she had caused him no damage. She wondered if in a fight if she would have a chance against him. Than she became aware of him as a woman.

Raiden was strong where she was soft. His chest squished her breasts against him and it felt good. Her nipples harden and she liked the way they rubbed against him when she gulped in breaths of air. He was talking to her, but the blood was rushing in her ears. She could feel his hands on her, so big, callused, slightly rough and perfect. He was taller than her, which was nice, considering all Spartans were tall and she let herself pull him closer into the hug and felt her lower body touch his. Oh he was big everyone.

He stiffened, she stiffened and the last of his words came loud and clear. She stepped back and turned away from him so he couldn't see how turned on she had just became. She pushed the button on her suit feeling relief when it hid her and then she put on her helmet. "Thanks. I'll take first watch."

She took up position just inside the cave and let her suit do most of the watch for her. She had her mind elsewhere. She had sex twice before. It was almost dishonorable that she had, but she had wanted to see what it was like. Both times sucked. The first the guy was too short, too awkward, and it just didn't work. The second guy was too soft. She found that she felt like she was going to break him and ended it early with both guys being pissed, but too scared to say anything about it. Now ... oh now she could .. no she couldn't. What the fuck was she thinking?!

__________________

Words that make a girl shiver in delight:
*leans close and whispers* You get whatever I decide you deserve to get, whenever I decide you've earned it. Or when I decide to take it.

Grammar is Important:
Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.
It's knowing if you rather be pissed off THEN pissed on or pissed off THAN pissed on.
It's the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.